Only after their real estate agent had wandered into the basement of their Toronto mansion in December, was it discovered that a Canadian billionaire couple was dead.

Socially active among the Canadian city’s upper class circles, Barry and Honey Sherman had reportedly amassed a fortune of some $4,77 billion. Barry, 75, was the founder of Canadian pharmaceutical giant Apotex and together with his wife, 70, was recognised globally for generous philanthropy.

But when they were found, both bodies in an upright position on the floor near the indoor pool, police deemed the deaths “suspicious” and called it a possible murder-suicide.

However, the Sherman family was not impressed and hired a team of experts, including a number of former Toronto homicide detectives, to conduct a separate, independent investigation, reports CBC.

What they learnt is not pretty:

The private investigators have found evidence that both Barry and Honey Sherman had their necks wrapped with leather belts that were then knotted around a handrail that runs adjacent to the pool.

Their wrists showed evidence that they had been, at one point, bound together. No rope or other materials that could have been used to tie their wrists were discovered.

Their bodies were otherwise limp and their arms unbound when they were discovered.

The team of private investigators believes that the Shermans were, in fact, killed on Dec. 13, two days before they were found. This conclusion is based on the fact that Honey was wearing the same clothes she was last seen in, on Dec. 13.

Private investigators also believe that Honey struggled with her killer or killers. She had cuts on her lip and nose, and was sitting in a pool of her own blood when she was discovered. However, there was comparatively little blood apparent on her upper-body clothing, suggesting that she had been face-down on the tile, bleeding, for some time before being bound to the handrail in an upright position.

Whenever I read something so gruesome I can’t help but reimagine it as some kind of horror movie.